Status:

Ownership of successor companies

Initial Government holding in the companies

73.—(1) As a consequence of the vesting in a successor company of any assets and liabilities, the company shall issue such securities of the company as the Department may direct—

(a)to the Department or the Department of Finance and Personnel; or

(b)to any person entitled to require the issue of the securities following their initial allotment to the Department or the Department of Finance and Personnel.

(2) The Department shall not give a direction under paragraph (1) in relation to a successor company at a time when the company has ceased to be wholly owned by the Crown.

(3) Securities required to be issued under this Article shall be issued or allotted at such time or times and on such terms as the Department may direct.

(4) Shares in a company which are issued under this Article—

(a)shall be of such nominal value as the Department may direct; and

(b)shall be issued as fully paid and treated for the purposes of the [1986 NI 6] Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 as if they had been paid up by virtue of the payment to the company of their nominal value in cash.

(5) The Department shall not exercise any power conferred by this Article, or dispose of any securities issued or of any rights to securities initially allotted to the Department under this Article, without the consent of the Department of Finance and Personnel.

(6) For the purposes of the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986, Part II of the [1989 NI 18] Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 and the [1989 NI 19] Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 the Crown is not to be treated as a shadow director of any successor company by reason that the company is wholly owned by the Crown or that the directors of that company are accustomed to act in accordance with the Crown’s directions or instructions.

Government investment in securities of the companies

74.—(1) The Department of Finance and Personnel or, with the consent of the Department of Finance and Personnel, the Department may at any time acquire—

(a)securities of a successor company; or

(b)rights to subscribe for any such securities.

(2) The Department shall not dispose of any securities or rights acquired under this Article without the consent of the Department of Finance and Personnel.

Exercise of functions through nominees

75.—(1) The Department of Finance and Personnel or, with the consent of the Department of Finance and Personnel, the Department may, for the purposes of Article 73, 74 or 82, appoint any person to act as the nominee, or one of the nominees, of the Department of Finance and Personnel or the Department; and—

(a)securities of a successor company may be issued under Article 73 to any nominee of the Department or the Department of Finance and Personnel appointed for the purposes of that Article or to any person entitled to require the issue of the securities following their initial allotment to any such nominee; and

(b)any such nominee appointed for the purposes of Article 74 may acquire securities or rights under that Article,

in accordance with directions given by the Department of Finance and Personnel or, with the consent of the Department of Finance and Personnel, by the Department.

(2) Any person holding any securities or rights as a nominee of the Department or the Department of Finance and Personnel under paragraph (1) shall hold and deal with them (or any of them) on such terms and in such manner as the Department of Finance and Personnel or, with the consent of the Department of Finance and Personnel, the Department may direct.

Target investment limit for Government shareholding

76.—(1) As soon as the Department considers expedient and, in any case, not later than 6 months after any successor company ceases to be wholly owned by the Crown, the Department shall by order fix a target investment limit in relation to the shares for the time being held in that company by virtue of any provision of this Part by the Department, the Department of Finance and Personnel and their respective nominees (“the Government shareholding”).

(2) The target investment limit for the Government shareholding in a successor company shall be expressed as a proportion of the voting rights which are exercisable in all circumstances at general meetings of the company (“the ordinary voting rights”).

(3) The first target investment limit fixed under this Article for the Government shareholding in a particular company shall not exceed, by more than 0.5 per cent. of the ordinary voting rights, the proportion of those rights which is in fact carried by the Government shareholding in that company at the time when the order fixing the limit is made.

(4) The Department may by order fix a new target investment limit for the Government shareholding in a successor company in place of the one previously in force under this Article; but—

(a)any new limit must be lower than the one it replaces; and

(b)an order under this Article may, notwithstanding section 17(2) of the [1954 c. 33 (N.I.)] Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954, only be revoked by an order fixing a new limit.

(5) It shall be the duty of the Department and of the Department of Finance and Personnel so to exercise—

(a)their powers under Article 74 and any power to dispose of any shares held under any provision of this Part; and

(b)their power to give directions to their respective nominees,

as to secure in relation to each successor company that the Government shareholding in that company does not carry a proportion of the ordinary voting rights exceeding any target investment limit for the time being in force under this Article in relation to that company.

(6) Notwithstanding paragraph (5) but subject to paragraph (7), the Department or the Department of Finance and Personnel may take up, or direct any nominee of the Department or of the Department of Finance and Personnel to take up, any rights which are for the time being available to them, or to the nominee, either—

(a)as an existing holder of shares or other securities of a successor company; or

(b)by reason of the rescission of any contracts for the sale of such shares or securities.

(7) If, as a result of anything done under paragraph (6), the proportion of the ordinary voting rights carried by the Government shareholding in a successor company at any time exceeds the target investment limit for the time being in force under this Article in relation to that company, it shall be the duty of the Department or, as the case may be, the Department of Finance and Personnel to comply with paragraph (5) as soon after that time as is reasonably practicable.

(8) For the purposes of this Article the temporary suspension of any of the ordinary voting rights shall be disregarded.

(9) The Department shall not exercise any power conferred on it by this Article except with the consent of the Department of Finance and Personnel.

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